Impact wrench



June 11,' 1957 J. L cRoLL 2,795,158

' IMPACT WRENCH f Filed Jam.- 17, 1956 40 www 1 1R ll .l0/m L. Groll INVENToR.

V24 im United States Patent YIMPACT WRENCH John L. Croll, Kansas City, Kans. Application January 17, 1956, Serial No. 559,634 y s Claims. (Cl. s1-s2.3)

kThis invention 'relates in general to new and useful improvements in hand tools, and more specifically to an impact Iattachment yfor socket wrenches.

In the use of the ordinary socket wrench, the Isocket thereof lits tightly upon the nut or -bolt to be loosened, and at the same timethe handle of the socket wrench is .firmly engaged Awith the socket, with the result that there is no play between the handle of the socket wrench andV the nut or bolt to be turned. Consequently, only direct turning forces or torque may be applied to the bolt or nut for loosening the same without hammering upon the wrench handle.

`lt is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide an impact -attachment for use in conjunction with socket wrenches, the impact attachment being of such a construction whereby it may be positioned between a handle of the socket wrench and the socket thereof to permit relative movement between the socket `and the handle so that the handle may be rst m-oved and thereby impart impact to the socket.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved impact attachment for use in conjunction with socket wrenches, they impact attachment including a socket receiving the stud of a socket wrench handle and having a separate stud for mounting a lsocket, the sleeve being `rotatable with respect to the stud of the socket attachment, and there being provided suitable stop means for engagement 'with the handle whereby .the handle may be initially moved before striking the stop means so that impact is applied to a socket mounted upon the stud of the impact attachment due to the sudden stopping or `striking of the handle with respect to the stop means.

A further object of this invention is to provide an impact attachment for socket wrenches, the impact attachment being of such a construction whereby it is readily adapted to use with all types of socket wrench handles and may receive sockets in the conventional manner, there being required no adaptation for utilizing the impact attachment with conventional socket wrench sets.

These, together with other objects and advantages which will .become subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction .and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying -drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the impact attachment which is the subject of this invention and shows the general detail-s thereof;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 2-2 of Figure 1 and shows further details of the impact attachment, a socket wrench handle and a socket being shown engaged with the impact attachment, the handle and socket being shown in dotted lines;

(Figure 3 is a top plan view of the impact yattachment and shows the relationship of a ratchet type handle with lan intermediate portion of 2,795,158 Patented June 11, 1957 Mice respect "thereto, only a portion of the handle being shown, and such handle being shown in dotted lines; and A Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4 of Figure 3 .and shows furtherV details of the impact attachment.

Referring now ktothe drawings in detail, it will be seen thatthere is illustrated the impact attachment which is the subject of this invention, the impact attachment being referred -to in general by the reference numeral 10. The impact attachment `10 includesl an elongated :body member 12 which is vfor-med at one end thereof with -a depending boss 14. The bos-s 14 isprovided with a bore 16 which is aligned with a slightly larger bore 18 in the lbody member 12. Positioned within the bore 16 of the boss 14 andy pivotally connected to the boss 14 by means of a transverse pivot pin 20 is -a socket mounting stud 22. The stud 22 is ofa conventional con-struction and is square in cross section to fit a conventional socket, such as the socket 24 illustratedin Figure 2. The stud 22 is provided with a yretaining-ball 26 for retaining the socket 24 thereon.

In view of the fact that `the bore 18 is of a larger diameterthan the bore 16, there is formed at the bottom of the -bore118 a shoulder 28. Disposed within the bore 18 and seated on the shoulder 28 is a stud-receiving sleeve 30. The sleeve 30 is provided with a square crosssectional bore 32 therethrough. The bore 32 is for the reception of a socket wrench handle socket mounting stud. Vln order that the sleeve 30 may be aligned for the reception o-f a handle stud, there is provided overridable latch means in the form of a ball detent 34 for locking the sleeve 30 in the last set position.

Extending upwardly from the body member 12 at the end thereof remote from the sleeve 30 is a yoke which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 36. The yoke 36 includes a bottom wall 38, upstanding walls 40 and 42 and partial top walls 44 and 46. The walls of the yoke 36 define .a transversely elongated opening 48 for receiving an intermediate portion of the socket wrench handle. T he partial top wall-s 44 and A46 are separated by a diagonally extending vertical opening 50 which permits the socket wrench handle to be fitted into the opening 48. The axis of the opening 50 is purposely disposed quite a bit out of alignment with the center of the sleeve 30 so as to prevent the accidental disengagement of a socket wrench handle from the yoke 36 when in use. p

The joint between the yoke 36 and the body member 12 is reinforced by a pair of small plates 54 and 56. The plates 54 and 56 are secured to side edges of the body member '12 and .to the vertical 'walls 40 and 42, respectively, and 4form hammer striking faces.

It is to be noted that the inner faces of the vertical walls `40 and 42 diverge away from the sleeve 30 and that they intersect remote from the center of the sleeve 30, passing the center of sleeve 30 a distance equal to oneha-lf the width of la socket wrench handle. Thus, an intermediate portion of a socket wrench handle, such a-s the' handle which is ref-erred to in general by the reference numeral 58, may have a full engagement with the Walls 40 and 42 when `striking the same.

The socket wrench handle 58 illustrated is of the ratchet type and includes .a ratchet head 60 having a depending socket mounting stud 62. At the opposite end of the handle '58 there is -a grip member 6'4 which is connected to the ratchet head I60 by means of an intermediate portion 66.

tIn the use of the impact attachment 10, a handle, such a-s the handle 58, has the intermediate portion thereof passed down through the opening 50 into the opening 48. Then the stud 62 thereof is passed into the bore 32 and interlocked with the sleeve 30. Due to the fact that the sleeve 30 is mounted for rotation with respectto the remainder of the impact attachment '10, the handle 58, or a similar handle, is free to move within the connes of the yoke 36.

After the handle has been mounted with respect to the impact attachment 10,-the-desired socket,` such as socket 24,-is placed uponthe stud 22A thereof.I The-impact attachment 10,` -together withl the handle- 58.and the socket 24, then form an impact wrench which is referred to in general by thereferencenumeral 68; The socket 24 is placed over the nut or bolt tobe loosened and the intermediate portiony 66 of the handle 58' is brought into engagement with the-innerface of the-wall 42. The handle 58 is then quickly moved in a counterclockwise direction so that it strikes the inner face of the wall 40 and` thereby applies both a direct turning force and an impact to the nut or bolt being loosened through the impact attachment 110 .andthe socket24; Although impact is generally not required in the tightening of a nut or bolt, if such impact is so desired, the procedure is reversed with the intermediate portion66 of the handle 58 being first engaged withw the inner surface of the Wall 40 and then swung in a clockwise direction for striking engagement with the inner surface of the wall 42.

From the foregoing description of the present invention, it will be readily .apparent that there has been deviseda relatively inexpensive attachment which, when used in conjunction with a handle and a socket of a conventional type of socket wrench set, there is provided a very desirable impact wrench.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art,` itis not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly-all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to,` falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as fol-lows:

l. An impact attachment for socket Wrenches comprising a body member, a socket mounting stud depending from said body member at one end thereof, a stud receiving sleeve mounted on saidV body member in alignment with said socket mounting stud, and stop means on the opposite end of said body member for engagement `with a socket wrench handle.

2. An impact attachment for socket wrenches comprising a body member, a socket mount-ing stud depending from said body member at one end thereof, a stud receiving sleeve mounted on said body member in align- 4 ment with said socket mounting stud, and stop means on the opposite end of said body member for engagement with a socket wrench handle, said sleeve Ibeing recessed in said body member, overridable latch means locking said sleeve to said body member to facilitate alignment of said sleeve with a socket wrench handle.

3. An impact attachment for socket wrenches comprising a body member, a socket mounting stud depending from said body member at one end thereof, a stud receiving sleeve mounted on said body member in alignment with said socket mounting stud, and stop means on the opposite end of said body member for engagement with a socket `wrench handle, said stop means being in the form of a guide yoke having an upper entrance opening, said guide yoke being relatively wide to permit initial movement of a socket Wrench handle.

4. An impact attachment for lsocket Wrenches comprising a body member, a socket mounting stud depending from said body member at one end thereof, a `stud receiving sleeve mounted on said 'body member in alignment with said socket mounting stud, and stop means on l the opposite end of said body member for engagement With a socket wrench handle, said stop means being in the form of a guide yoke having an upper entrance opening, said guide yoke being relatively wide to permit initial movement of a socket wrench handle, said entrance opening having an axis out of alignment with said socket to prevent accidental disengagement of a socket wrench handle from said yoke.

5. An impact attachment for socket wrenches comprising abody member, socket mounting means on one end of said body member, socket wrench handle mounting means on said one end of said body member, and stop means on the opposite end of` said body member for engagement with a socket wrench handle, said stop means being in the form of a guide yoke having an upper entrance opening, said guide yoke being relatively wide to prevent initial movement of a socket wrench handle.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,710,317 Lynch Apr. 23, 1929 1,722,652 Archer July 30, 1929 2,342,783 Aron et al. Feb. 29, 1944 2,566,661 Hamlin Sept. 4, 1951 2,721,491 Klitzke Oct. 25, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 280,510 Great Britain Jan. 12, 1928 450,778 Great Britain July 24, 1936 

